Elliot froze for a moment.
"Can't advance? There are prerequisites?"
He had never encountered this when promoting Believers before, and Elliot was somewhat puzzled.
After looking through the interface, Elliot discovered, rather helplessly, that the Difference Engine had provided no explanation.
The Difference Engine certainly would not cheat him, but it certainly gave him too little information.
The interface for allocating supernatural points, for instance, did not say what powers those icons corresponded to, leaving Elliot to try and explore them one by one. Then there was the earlier [Worm].
"Wait, could this have nothing to do with the Difference Engine? Maybe supernatural people in this world have to meet certain conditions to advance to middle rank?" This fell squarely into a gap in Elliot's knowledge. Vanessa was still a long way from middle rank and would not reach it anytime soon, so he had not specifically looked into it.
"I'll ask Flora once things here are over. She's already middle rank, so she should have some experience."
"Come to think of it, she's become a Believer too..."
Elliot glanced at her Card. It had already become [Believer Flora Belenga Lancaster], without a "Cult Leader of the Esoteric Cult" suffix like Vanessa's.
It seemed that Flora being the Mourning Poetry Society's Elegy Funeral Rite had no additional effect.
His conversation with Flora, however, might have to wait.
Elliot looked away from the Difference Engine and out the window.
Dawn had broken.
The Blood Moon withdrew the red radiance it had cast over the land, and this long night finally came to an end.
Morning sunlight spilled over the land. The people of the Imperial Capital stepped out of their homes, their faces filled with surprise and delight.
Saint Clair was shrouded in haze all year round, yet today they could